Fan system

ABSTRACT

A fan system includes a stator assembly and a monitoring and sensing module. The stator assembly is electrically connected to the monitoring and sensing module, and the latter includes at least one sensor unit, at least one monitoring unit and a signal processing unit. The sensor unit of the monitoring and sensing module senses an operating state of the fan system, and the signal processing unit processes the sensing results of the sensor unit and actively generates a warning in the event of an abnormal operating state of the fan system, so as to protect the fan system against an operation failure due to any abnormal operating state and thereby reduce the fan system&#39;s maintenance cost.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a fan, and more particularly to a fansystem capable of actively generating a warning in the event of anabnormal operating state of the fan to avoid a fan operation failure andreduce fan maintenance cost.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is known that electronic communication apparatuses and serverappliances are normally enclosed in individual communication chassis andserver cabinets, respectively. When the electronic elements in thecommunication apparatuses and the service appliances operate, theyproduce heat at the same time. Since the communication chassis and theserver cabinets are closed enclosure, the heat produced by theelectronic elements of the communication apparatuses and the serverappliances during operation thereof tends to accumulate and gather atsome particular areas in the communication chassis and the servercabinets. The accumulated heat results in a relatively high temperatureat these areas and can not be easily dissipated from the closedcommunication chassis and server cabinets. When the temperature exceedsthe range that can be tolerated by the electronic elements of thecommunication apparatuses and the server appliances, the reliability orservice life of the communication apparatuses and the server applianceswould be seriously adversely affected. However, for other areas in thecommunication chassis and the server cabinets farther away from theheat-producing electronic elements, the temperature is much lower thanthat in the areas closer to or contacting with the electronic elements.That is, the temperature distribution in the conventional communicationchassis and server cabinets is extremely uneven to largely reduce anoverall heat dissipation performance of the communication chassis andthe server cabinets. The currently available solutions for the aboveproblems generally include enlarging the internal space of thecommunication chassis and the server cabinets and improving the materialfor making the communication chassis and the server cabinets. However,these solutions would inevitably result in bulky and heavy communicationchassis and server cabinets. It is therefore important to work out a waythat can enhance the heat dissipation performance of the communicationchassis and the server cabinets without increasing their dimensions andweight. Currently, cooling fans are employed as major means fordissipating heat from the communication chassis and the server cabinets.

However, the communication chassis and the server cabinets aretremendous in number and are widely distributed over different places.Under this situation, in the event of any damaged cooling fan in any ofthe communication chassis and the server cabinet, it would be difficultfor a maintenance person to reach the site at once and replace thedamaged fan with a new one. When any of the communication chassis or theservice cabinets sounds a warning or becomes out of order due to failedheat dissipation thereof, it also means that the fan in thecommunication chassis or the server cabinet is no longer workable andthe electronic communication apparatus or the server appliance in thechassis or the cabinet might have become damaged and require repair.Therefore, increased maintenance cost is required for the communicationapparatuses and server appliances that are mounted in closedcommunication chassis and server cabinets that use conventional fans asthe means of heat dissipation.

It is therefore tried by the inventor to develop an improved fan systemto overcome the problems and drawbacks of the conventional fans.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a fan systemcapable of monitoring fan operation and actively generating a warning inthe event of any abnormal operating state of the fan, so as to avoid fanoperation failure and reduce fan maintenance cost.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fan system thatis able to sense an operating temperature of the fan and determinewhether there is any abnormal operating state that endangers the fan'sservice life.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a fan systemthat is able to sense voltage and current flowing through electronicelements of the fan and determine whether there is any abnormaloperating state of the electronic elements.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a fansystem that is able to monitor a vibration state of the fan anddetermine whether there is any abnormal operating state of the fan.

To achieve the above and other objects, the fan system providedaccording to the present invention includes a stator assembly and amonitoring and sensing module. The stator assembly includes at least onemagnetic sensor unit, a control unit and a rectifier unit. The magneticsensor unit generates a sensing signal to the control unit, and thecontrol unit is further electrically connected to the rectifier unit.The monitoring and sensing module includes at least one sensor unit, amonitoring unit and at least one signal processing unit. The sensor unitof the monitoring and sensing module senses the operating state of thestator assembly of the fan system, and the signal processing unitactively generates a warning in the event of an abnormal operating stateof the fan system, so as to avoid a fan operation failure and to reducethe fan system's maintenance cost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present inventionto achieve the above and other objects can be best understood byreferring to the following detailed description of the preferredembodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a fan system according to a first preferredembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2A is a block diagram of a first example of the fan systemaccording to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2B is a block diagram of a second example of the fan systemaccording to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;and

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a fan system according to a secondpreferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described with some preferredembodiments thereof and with reference to the accompanying drawings. Forthe purpose of easy to understand, elements that are the same in thepreferred embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals.

Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a block diagram of a fan system 1according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention. Asshown, the fan system 1 in the first preferred embodiment includes astator assembly 2 and a monitoring and sensing module 3.

The stator assembly 2 includes a magnetic sensor unit 21, a control unit22, a rectifier unit 23 and a plurality of electronic elements 24, andis provided with a bearing unit 25. In the first preferred embodimentshown in FIG. 1, the magnetic sensor unit 21 is a Hall element and iselectrically connected to the control unit 22; the control unit 22 is amicrocontroller and is further electrically connected to the rectifierunit 23; and the rectifier unit 23 is a bridge rectifier circuit.

The control unit 22 receives a control signal and also receives asensing signal that is generated by the magnetic sensor unit 21 when itsenses a magnetic polarity shift. After the control unit 22 receives thecontrol signal and the sensing signal, electric current flows to therectifier unit 23 and is rectified thereat before being sent to themonitoring and sensing module 3. The monitoring and sensing module 3includes at least one sensor unit 31, at least one signal processingunit 32, and a monitoring unit 33. The sensor unit 31 senses theelectronic elements 24 of the stator assembly 2 and the bearing unit 25;and the signal processing unit 32 processes the sensing results of thesensor unit 31 and outputs relevant data for reading. The monitoringunit 33 monitors the bearing unit 25 of the stator assembly 2 and thewhole fan system 1; and the signal processing unit 32 processes themonitoring results of the monitoring unit 33 and outputs relevant datafor reading. Further, the signal processing unit 32 can generate awarning by triggering an alarm device (not shown).

FIG. 2A is a block diagram of a first example of the fan system 1according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention. Asshown, in the first example, the electronic elements 24 in the statorassembly 2 include at least one transistor element 241.

Please refer to FIG. 2A along with FIG. 1. In the first example of thefirst preferred embodiment, the sensor unit 31 is a voltage and currentsensor unit 311 for sensing the voltage and current flowing through thetransistor element 241 of the stator assembly 2. For this purpose, thevoltage and current sensor unit 311 uses a safe operation range of thetransistor element 241 as a reference point. When it is sensed that thevoltage and current flowing through the transistor element 241 exceedsthe reference point, the voltage and current sensor unit 311 sends itssensing data to the signal processing unit 32, which records the numberof times the voltage and current exceeds the reference point and outputsrelevant data for reading. Further, in the first example of the firstpreferred embodiment, the monitoring unit 33 is a vibration monitoringunit 331. During fan operation, mutual vibration would occur between thebearing unit 25 and a blade assembly (not shown) correspondingly mountedthereto. The vibration monitoring unit 331 is able to sense suchvibration of the fan system 1 and uses a cut-in vibration frequency ofthe fan system 1 as a reference vibration signal. More specifically, thevibration monitoring unit 331 monitors the vibration of the fan system 1when the blade assembly mounted to the bearing unit 25 rotates, andcompares the monitored operation vibration signal with the referencevibration signal to output relevant comparison data. Based on thecomparison data, the vibration monitoring unit 331 determines whetherthe bearing unit 25 is in a normal use condition or not and sends thedata obtained from the determination to the signal processing unit 32,which receives the data and outputs it for reading. In this manner, itis able to protect the fan system 1 against an operation failure due toany abnormal operating state and thereby reduce the fan's maintenancecost.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram of a second example of the fan system 1according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention. Asshown, in the second example, the electronic elements 24 in the statorassembly 2 include at least one capacitance element 242, and the statorassembly 2 is provided with the bearing unit 25.

Please refer to FIG. 2B along with FIG. 1. In the second example of thefirst preferred embodiment, the sensor unit 31 is a temperature sensorunit 312 for sensing the temperature of the capacitance element 242 ofthe stator assembly 2. The capacitance element 242 in the statorassembly 2 has a service life in inverse proportion to its operatingtemperature. When the temperature sensor unit 312 senses the temperatureof the capacitance element 242, the signal processing unit 32periodically collects the temperature values sensed by the temperaturesensor unit 312 and converts the temperature values into the servicelife of the capacitance element 242 through computation, and outputsrelevant data for reading. In this manner, it is able to protect the fansystem 1 against an operation failure due to any abnormal operatingstate and thereby reduce the fan's maintenance cost.

Further, in the second example of the first preferred embodiment, themonitoring unit 33 is a vibration monitoring unit 331. During fanoperation, as having been mentioned above, mutual vibration would occurbetween the bearing unit 25 and a blade assembly (not shown)correspondingly mounted thereto. The vibration monitoring unit 331 isable to sense such vibration of the fan system 1 and uses a cut-invibration frequency of the fan system 1 as a reference vibration signal.More specifically, the vibration monitoring unit 331 monitors thevibration of the fan system 1 when the blade assembly mounted to thebearing unit 25 rotates, and compares monitored operation vibrationsignal with the reference vibration signal to generate relevantcomparison data. Based on the comparison data, the vibration monitoringunit 331 determines whether the bearing unit 25 is in a normal usecondition or not and sends data obtained from the determination to thesignal processing unit 32, which receives the data and outputs it forreading. In this manner, it is able to protect the fan system 1 againstan operation failure due to any abnormal operating state and therebyreduce the fan's maintenance cost.

Please refer to FIG. 3 that is a block diagram of a fan system 1according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention. Asshown, the fan system 1 in the second preferred embodiment includes astator assembly 2 and a monitoring and sensing module 3. The statorassembly 2 includes a magnetic sensor unit 21, a control unit 22, arectifier unit 23 and a plurality of electronic elements 24, and isprovided with a bearing unit 25. The control unit 22 receives a controlsignal and also receives a sensing signal that is generated by themagnetic sensor unit 21 when it senses a magnetic polarity shift. Afterthe control unit 22 receives the control signal and the sensing signal,electric current flows to the rectifier unit 23 and is rectified thereatbefore being sent to the monitoring and sensing module 3. The monitoringand sensing module 3 includes at least one sensor unit 31 (also refer toFIG. 1) and at least one signal processing unit 32. The sensor unit 31senses the electronic elements 24 of the stator assembly 2 and thebearing unit 25; and the signal processing unit 32 processes the sensingresults of the sensor unit 31 and outputs relevant data for reading.Further, the signal processing unit 32 can generate a warning bytriggering an alarm device (not shown).

In the second preferred embodiment, the electronic elements 24 of thestator assembly include at least one transistor element 241 and at leastone capacitance element 242; the sensor unit 31 (also refer to FIG. 1)includes a voltage and current sensor unit 311 and a temperature sensorunit 312. The voltage and current sensor unit 311 senses and determineswhether the voltage and current flowing through the transistor element241 of the stator assembly 2 exceeds a preset reference point. Thetemperature sensor unit 312 senses the temperature of the capacitanceelement 242 of the stator assembly 2. When the temperature sensor unit312 senses the temperature of the capacitance element 242, the signalprocessing unit 32 periodically collects the temperature values sensedby the temperature sensor unit 312 and converts the temperature valuesinto the service life of the capacitance element 242 throughcomputation, and outputs relevant data for reading. In the secondpreferred embodiment, the monitoring and sensing module 3 furtherincludes an operating time counting unit 314 for counting the operatingtime of the fan system 1 when the latter operates. The signal processingunit 32 compares the fan system's operating time with a maximum servicelife preset for the fan system 1. When the fan system's operating timeis found as being close to its maximum service life, the signalprocessing unit 32 outputs relevant data for reading. In the secondpreferred embodiment, the monitoring and sensing module 3 furtherincludes a vibration monitoring unit 331 (also refer to FIG. 2B), whichsenses vibration of the operating fan system 1 and uses a cut-invibration frequency of the fan system 1 as a reference vibration signal.More specifically, the vibration monitoring unit 331 monitors thevibration of the fan system 1 when a blade assembly mounted to thebearing unit 25 rotates, and compares monitored operational vibrationsignal with the reference vibration signal to generate relevantcomparison data. Based on the comparison data, the vibration monitoringunit 331 determines whether the bearing unit 25 is in a normal usecondition or not and sends data obtained from the determination to thesignal processing unit 32, which receives the data and outputs it forreading. In this manner, it is able to protect the fan system 1 againstan operation failure due to any abnormal operating state and to reducethe fan's maintenance cost.

The present invention has been described with some preferred embodimentsthereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in thedescribed embodiments can be carried out without departing from thescope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limitedonly by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A fan system, comprising: a stator assemblyincluding at least one magnetic sensor unit, a control unit, and arectifier unit; the magnetic sensor unit generating a sensing signal tothe control unit; and the control unit being electrically connected tothe rectifier unit; and a monitoring and sensing module beingelectrically connected to the rectifier unit and including at least onesensor unit, at least one monitoring unit, and at least one signalprocessing unit.
 2. The fan system as claimed in claim 1, wherein thesensor unit is a voltage and current sensor unit.
 3. The fan system asclaimed in claim 2, wherein the stator assembly includes a plurality ofelectronic elements, among which there is at least one transistorelement; and the voltage and current sensor unit sensing voltage andcurrent of the transistor element.
 4. The fan system as claimed in claim1, wherein the sensor unit is a temperature sensor unit.
 5. The fansystem as claimed in claim 4, wherein the stator assembly includes aplurality of electronic elements, among which there is at least onecapacitance element; and the temperature sensor unit sensing atemperature of the capacitance element.
 6. The fan system as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the monitoring unit is a vibration monitoring unit formonitoring a vibration state of the fan system.
 7. The fan system asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the sensor unit includes a voltage andcurrent senor unit and a temperature sensor unit.
 8. The fan system asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the monitoring and sensing module furtherincludes an operating time counting unit for counting operating time ofthe fan system.
 9. The fan system as claimed in claim 1, wherein themagnetic sensor unit is a Hall element.
 10. The fan system as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the control unit also receives a control signal.